Minister has "excellent" talks with Algerian leader

Algeria/bilateral relations – Statement by M. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, following his meeting with Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria

Algiers, 12 May 2015

I’ve just had a meeting with President Bouteflika, as I do – and I thank him – whenever I come to Algeria. We broadly reviewed, at length and in detail, our France-Algeria relations, which are excellent at economic level and all levels. It’s satisfying because it was the initiative, three years ago, of President Hollande and President Bouteflika, who spoke of “an exceptional partnership between Algeria and France”. And that’s what we’re seeing.

So we reviewed our relations, particularly economic, and then we talked more about geopolitics and international strategy, as well as the region, Africa as a whole and Latin America. I must day I’m always struck by the depth of analysis from President Bouteflika, who will be very happy to welcome President Hollande next month. So we also talked about the preparations for that visit.

As I am each time, I’m struck by the alacrity of his arguments, and it’s always extremely interesting to compare one’s own viewpoint – mine in this case – with his, given his experience of international relations. We also talked about Cuba. It so happens that the French President was in Cuba in the last few hours, I myself went there a few months ago, and Cuba plays a special role not only in Latin America but in a certain awareness of international relations. So there you are: it was an excellent conversation./.